Photo: Tom Marcello Webster, New York, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pianists · 1925–2007

Oscar Peterson

Canadian jazz pianist (1925–2007)

Born: 15 August 1925
Montreal
Died: 23 December 2007
Mississauga
Country: Canada
Active: 1945–
Record labels: Verve Records, Mercury Records, MPS Records, Telarc International Corporation, Pablo
Discography: 134 albums

Biography

Oscar Peterson was a jazz musician who played piano, percussion instrument and voice. Oscar Peterson was born on 15 August 1925 in Montreal and died on 23 December 2007 in Mississauga. The music is usually filed under jazz, blues and bebop. Record labels: Verve Records, Mercury Records, MPS Records and Telarc International Corporation. The discography here lists 134 albums, from “Plays Pretty” (1952) to “World Tour” (2026). Honours include Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album (1974), Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance (1977) and honorary doctorate at the Laval University (1985).

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won eight Grammy Awards, as well as a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy, and received numerous other awards and honours. He played thousands of concerts worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, simply "O.P." by his friends, and was informally known in the jazz community as "the King of inside swing". He considered his 1953–1958 trio with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis "the most stimulating" and productive setting for public performances and studio recordings. He also worked solo, as an accompanist, and in duos and trios with Sam Jones, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Joe Pass, Irving Ashby, Count Basie, and Herbie Hancock.

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Discography

Studio and live albums

Exclusively for My Friends - Vol. III: The Way I Really Play 1968 · Live

Exclusively for My Friends, Volume 4: My Favorite Instrument 1968 · Live

Exclusively for my Friends - Vol. II: Girl Talk 1968 · MPS Exclusively for my Friends - Vol. 1: Action 1969 · MPS Exclusively for my Friends – Vol. V: Mellow Mood 1969 · MPS Exclusively for my Friends – Vol. VI: Travelin' On 1969 · MPS Motions and Emotions 1969 · MPS Tracks 1970 · MPS Reunion Blues 1971 · BASF Great Connection 1974 · MPS

The Trio 1974 · Live

Oscar Peterson & Harry Edison 1975 · Pablo

The Oscar Peterson Big 6 at Montreux 1975 · Live

"The Giants" 1977 · Pablo

Misty 1977

Silent Partner 1979 · Pablo Today

The Paris Concert 1979 · Live

Live At The Northsea Jazz Festival, The Hague, Holland, 1980 1980 · Live

Face to Face 1982 · Pablo

Nigerian Marketplace 1982 · Live

Skol 1982 · Live

The Personal Touch 1982 · Pablo Blues In Chicago 1955 1983 · Verve Two of the Few 1983 · Pablo The Good Life 1984 · Original Jazz Classics

Porgy and Bess 1985

Digital at Montreux 1987 · Live

Oscar Peterson & Dizzy Gillespie 1987

Oscar Peterson + Harry Edison + Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson 1987

Montreux '77: Oscar Peterson Jam 1989 · Live

Montreux '77: Oscar Peterson and the Bassists 1989 · Live

Live! 1990 · Live

Oscar Peterson Live! 1990 · Live

Romance: The Vocal Styling of Oscar Peterson 1990

The Good Life 1991 · Live

In the Key of Oscar 1992

Oscar Peterson and Roy Eldridge 1992

Time After Time 1992

En concert avec Europe 1 1993 · Live

Hallelujah Time! 1993

Plays Count Basie 1993

The London Concert 1993 · Live

The Paris Concert: Salle Pleyel 1978 1993 · Live

The Vienna Concert 1993 · Live

Three Originals, Volume 2 1993

Fallin' In Love With Oscar 1994

Oscar Peterson & Clark Terry 1994

Side by Side 1994

1951 1995

An Oscar Peterson Christmas 1995

Exclusively for My Friends: The Lost Tapes 1995 · Live

Jousts 1995

The More I See You 1995

Bursting Out With the All-Star Big Band! / Swinging Brass 1996

Oscar Peterson Meets Roy Hargrove and Ralph Moore 1996

Oscar Peterson in Russia 1996 · Live

Two Originals: Walking the Line / Another Day 1996

A Tribute to Oscar Peterson: Live at the Town Hall 1997 · Live

Oscar Peterson et Joe Pass à la Salle Pleyel 1997 · Live

Oscar in Paris: Oscar Peterson Live at the Salle Pleyel 1997 · Live

A Royal Wedding Suite 1998

Oscar and Benny 1998

A Summer Night in Munich 1999 · Live

Live: Olympia 1963 - Th. Champs-Élysées 1964 1999 · Live

Live: Olympia Mai 1957, Avril 1960, Février 1961, Mars 1963 1999 · Live

Live: The Champs-Élysées 1965, Pleyel 1966 1999 · Live

Jazz in Paris: Stéphane Grappelli Quartet, Volume 1 2000

Jazz in Paris: Stéphane Grappelli Quartet, Volume 2 2000

Oscar Peterson & Jon Faddis 2000

Trail of Dreams: A Canadian Suite 2000

Con Alma 2001

Oscar's Blues 2001

The Piano Player 2001

Apr. 25th & 26, 1964 - Mar. 20th, 1965 Théâtre Des Champs-Elysées / Mar. 29th, 1966 - Pleyel 2002 · Live

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz Radio Broadcast 2002 · Live

Solo: Live 2002 · Live

Oscar Peterson’s Easter Suite 2003 · Live

A Night in Vienna 2004 · Live

Mack the knife 2004

Keyboard 2005

Fly Me to the Moon 2006

JATP Lausanne 1953 2006 · Live

Satch and Josh....Again 2006

The Oscar Peterson Big 6 at Montreux 2006 · Live

Date With Oscar 2007

Une Anthologie 1952/1956 (Plays Basie And Others / Live!) 2007

Standards 2010

Unmistakable (Zenph Re-Performance) 2011

During This Time 2014 · Live

May 1965, Münchner Jazztage, Munich, Germany [Restauración 2017 (Live)] 2017 · Live

A Time for Love: The Oscar Peterson Quartet - Live in Helsinki, 1987 2021 · Live

On a Clear Day: The Oscar Peterson Trio - Live in Zurich, 1971 2022 · Live

Back In Town (Live Hannover '72) 2023 · Live

Con Alma - The Oscar Peterson Trio – Live in Lugano, 1964 2023

Hannover 1972 2023

Love Ballade 2023

Oscar Peterson Trio Live at the Tivoli Gardens May 29th. 1965 (Restauración 2023) 2023

City Lights: The Oscar Peterson Quartet – Live in Munich, 1994 2024 · Live

Around The World (Live) 2025 · Live

Přátelé: Prague ’74 2025 · Live

World Tour 2026 · Live · Mack Avenue

In Concert · Live

Jazz & Blues

The Classic Trio

Also plays on

Albums where Oscar Peterson is credited as a sideman

1952	Billie Holiday Sings — Billie Holiday	piano
1952	Solitude — Billie Holiday	piano
1953	The Astaire Story — Fred Astaire	celesta, piano
1953	An Evening With Billie Holiday — Billie Holiday	piano, instruments
1954	Billie Holiday — Billie Holiday	piano
1955	Diz and Getz — Diz and Getz	piano
1955	Roy & Diz — Dizzy Gillespie • Roy Eldridge	piano
1956	Ella and Louis — Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong	piano
1957	Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson — Louis Armstrong & Oscar Peterson	piano, performer
1957	Ella and Louis Again — Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong	piano
1957	Ella and Louis Again, Volume Two — Ella and Louis	piano
1957	Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book — Ella Fitzgerald	piano
1957	Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book, Volume 2 — Ella Fitzgerald	piano
1966	Soul Mates — Dizzy Gillespie & Roy Eldridge	piano
1976	Ella and Oscar — Ella Fitzgerald & Oscar Peterson	piano
1980	The Trumpet Summit Meets the Oscar Peterson Big Four — Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Clark Terry, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Joe Pass & Bobby Durham	piano
2008	Ella & Louis (and Oscar Too) — Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong & The Oscar Peterson Trio	piano
—	The Irving Berlin Songbook — Fred Astaire	piano, celesta

Awards

1974 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album
1977 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance
1985 honorary doctorate at the Laval University
1986 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award
1991 Knight of the National Order of Quebec
1993 Glenn Gould Prize
1996 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
1997 Loyola Medal
1999 Praemium Imperiale
2013 Canada's Walk of Fame
BBC Jazz Awards
Officer of Arts and Letters
Canadian Music Hall of Fame
Governor General's Performing Arts Award
Companion of the Order of Canada
Order of Ontario

Films about Oscar Peterson

2021Oscar Peterson: Black + White2021 documentary film by Barry Avrich

Historic 78 rpm records

SHEIK OF ARABY OSCAR PETERSON · Smith · Wheeler · Snyder archive.org ↗
HONEYDRIPPER OSCAR PETERSON · Joe Liggins archive.org ↗
EXACTLY LIKE YOU OSCAR PETERSON · Major Holley · McHugh & Fields · Norman Granz archive.org ↗
ROBBINS NEST OSCAR PETERSON · Major Holley · Charles Thomas · Norman Granz archive.org ↗
THESE FOOLISH THINGS OSCAR PETERSON PLAYS PRETTY · Oscar Peterson · Ray Brown · Irving… archive.org ↗
In the Still of the Night The Oscar Peterson Trio · Oscar Peterson · Barney Kessel · Ray Brown… · 1953 archive.org ↗
Jive at Six Ben Webster and his Orchestra · Webster · Ben Webster · Benny Carter… · 1953 archive.org ↗
That's All Ben Webster and his Orchestra · Brandt · Haymes · Ben Webster ·… · 1953 archive.org ↗

Listen on Spotify

Frequently asked questions

What instrument did Oscar Peterson play?

Oscar Peterson is known for playing piano, percussion instrument and voice.

When and where was Oscar Peterson born?

Oscar Peterson was born 15 August 1925 in Montreal.

What are Oscar Peterson's best-known albums?

Albums in our database include Plays Pretty (1952), This Is Oscar Peterson at the Piano (1952), Oscar Peterson Plays Cole Porter (1953), Oscar Peterson Plays Duke Ellington (1953) and Oscar Peterson Plays George Gershwin (1953).

External links

Data compiled from open sources; see the source links below. Spotted an error? Let us know.